This invention relates to a game apparatus having a mechanism to drop an object one by one. In particular, this invention relates to a game apparatus having a mechanism to store spherical objects such as golf balls and drop them onto the ground one by one by mechanical means.
Men and women of all ages are enjoying the game of golf. Golf is a game to hit the ball having a diameter of about 4.3 cm (centimeter) on the ground with a lesser number of strokes to put the ball in a hole or cup on the green.
The game of golf can be roughly classified in its procedure into a process of placing the ball onto a green where a hole exits by using clubs like iron and wood, and a process of putting wherein the ball on a green is hit into the hole by using a putter.
When a player practices putting or plays putting as recreation, the player has to place a ball on the ground (placement). Hence, in order to practice putting ten (10) times, the player has to place the ball ten times. The routine of placing the ball is frustrating. Moreover, bending down to place a ball may pose significant difficulty for an elderly player or a player with a back pain. When a player practices putting with many balls, the player has to carry a container storing many balls such as a bag.
Thus, a means is desired to place a ball automatically without a player""s action to bend over the ground to place a ball. A possible apparatus to achieve this objective can be classified into an apparatus mounting a spherical object drop mechanism to a club, and into an apparatus having a spherical object drop mechanism separately provided thereto.
If the apparatus to mount the spherical object drop mechanism independently from a golf club is to be used, the apparatus having the spherical object drop mechanism needs to be brought over with a player in addition to golf clubs. Moreover, when the spherical object drop mechanism is large, it must be fixed to a specific location on the ground and thus, the ball must be placed only on the same position.
For the apparatus to mount spherical object drop mechanism to a golf club is to be used, it is conceivable to place a ball on the ground with an electric powered mechanism. However, such a structure becomes complex, expensive and inconvenient since an electric power supply such as a battery must be used.
Thus, it is desirable to have a mechanism that allows ball placement on the desired position on the ground by mechanical means with simple structure and low cost.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a game apparatus that allows to drop spherical objects one by one to be placed on desired positions on the ground.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a game apparatus having a container to store spherical objects therein and a mechanism that allows one spherical object to be dropped while preventing other spherical objects from being dropped.
It is a further object of the present invention is to provide a golf ball game apparatus which integrally includes a mechanism for dropping a golf ball one by one on the ground and a storage container of golf balls.
The game apparatus of the present invention has a mechanism allowing to drop a spherical object one by one on the desired positions or spots on the ground. The spherical object drop mechanism includes:
a housing for storing a plurality of spherical objects to allow vertical movements of the spherical objects therein by their own weight;
a first stopper provided in the housing for stopping the vertical movement of the spherical objects;
a second stopper provided in the housing located at a lower location of the first stopper by the distance corresponding to the diameter of the spherical object for stopping the vertical movement or releasing the stop operation of the spherical objects;
a stopper drive means to operate the first stopper and the second stopper for stopping and releasing in the opposite way with each other; and
a knob to operate the stopper drive means from outside.
The game apparatus having the spherical object drop mechanism of the present invention enables to drop a ball one by one onto desired positions on the ground. Since the game apparatus of the present invention has a simple mechanical structure, it is strong and reliable requiring less maintenance, and can be produced economically with low cost.